''6.30 with George Negus'' was an Australian television current affairs program broadcast on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

. It aired at 6:30pm from Monday to Friday and was presented by George Negus (Monday - Thursday) and Hugh Riminton or Hamish Macdonald (Friday) from the

TEN Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

studios in Pyrmont,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. It premiered at 6pm on 24 January 2011. On 19 October 2011 Network Ten officially announced that 6:30 with George Negus had been cancelled as a result of low ratings. The final episode of the series aired on 28 October 2011 in what was the show's 200th episode. The series was replaced by an extended version of ''

The 7PM Project ''The Project'' (previously ''The 7PM Project'' from 2009 to 2011) is an Australian news-Current affairs (news format), current affairs and talk show television panel program, airing weeknights across Australia on Network Ten, Network 10, produc ...

'' which was consequently retitled as ''The Project''.

History

In August 2010,

announced that it would spend an additional $20 million per year to strengthen its news and current affairs output. Those changes included launching a 6pm national current affairs program, followed by local half-hour news bulletins at 6:30pm. On 8 October 2010, it was announced that George Negus would leave SBS's '' Dateline'' to join

. Negus confirmed a day later that he would be hosting Ten's new 6pm program. The first edition of ''6PM with George Negus'' aired on Monday 24 January 2011. In March 2011,

announced that it would be moving the program to 6:30pm in an effort to address persistently poor ratings for its early evening schedule. The changes, introduced on Monday 4 April 2011, led to Ten's local news bulletins at 5:00pm being extended by a further 30 minutes with Negus' program in direct competition with the Nine Network's ''

A Current Affair ''A Current Affair'' may refer to: * ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network * ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...

'' and the Seven Network's '' Today Tonight''. On 19 October 2011, Network Ten announced that they had cancelled the program and replace it with an hour-long version of ''

'', renamed ''The Project'' at 6:30pm after very poor ratings. The 200th and final ever edition of ''6.30 with George Negus'' aired on Friday 28 October 2011.

Reporters

''6.30 with George Neguss reporters included: * Senior Foreign Correspondent: Hamish Macdonald * Political Editor: Hugh Riminton * Environment: Emily Rice * Consumer: Eddy Meyer * Sydney: Danielle Isdale * Melbourne: Meggie Palmer * Brisbane:

Max Futcher Max Futcher is an Australian television presenter and journalist. He currently co-anchors the Brisbane edition of ''Seven News'' with Sharyn Ghidella each weeknight after being chosen to replace Bill McDonald in March 2018. Prior to joining S ...

* United States: Emma Dallimore

Reception

The first episode of ''6PM with George Negus'' aired on 24 January 2011 to an average of 605,000 viewers ranking it 18th for the day. This was over the half a million target set by the show's executive producer, Tony Ritchie. The program was third-placed in its timeslot behind '' Seven News'' and ''

Nine News ''Nine News'' (stylised ''9News'') is the national news service of the Nine Network in Australia. Its flagship program is the hour-long 6:00 pm state bulletin, produced by Nine's owned-and-operated stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, ...

''. Colin Vickery from the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...

'' commented on how fast-paced the show was, but concluded that the show "got off to a serviceable start tonight – but it seriously needs to slow down and take the time to live up to host's promises". Tim Dick from the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' also noted the rushed nature of the show and stated that Negus "deserves more time". Nightly ratings for the program deteriorated in the weeks following the first broadcast, with the program ranking outside the top 100 weekly programs from its third week onwards, and its average audience falling below 400,000 viewers each night. However, after the timeslot shift, by July 2011 audience numbers had risen and stabilised to just below 500,000 viewers each night.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:6.30 with George Negus Australian television news shows Network 10 original programming 10 News First 2011 Australian television series debuts 2011 Australian television series endings Television in Sydney English-language television shows